Le diable dans le beffroi

About the show

In a Dutch village, a devil makes the clock strike thirteen, then turns the bell-ringer’s holy music into a jig and leads villagers toward a canal before stopping them. In a second tableau set in Italy, the villagers are wilder, but bell-ringer’s son Jean is immune to the devil’s magic because of his love for the mayor’s daughter. He climbs the belfry and prays, breaking the spell; the devil vanishes and the villagers return to normal as the clock strikes twelve.